2016-10-11 Regular Session Minutes

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the heart of this deals with the building code and how it's applied and its process with...there's a disagreement with how the building codes is applied...how does that disagreement get resolved? We've touched upon it on the technical requirements and you got to keep in mind that the building code as we say it...is more than just Hawaii County Code, Chapter 5. It's a myriads of laws and regulations and technical requirements that can be found in our County Code...in a document that the County has adopted in part with amendments as of 2006 International Building Code. By reference we also apply the international residential code for residential construction. There's a plumbing code...there's a national electrical code...there's a national fire protection code...in addition to State laws that may be applicable for land use and building. So if you look at this...if you give me a moment...from a bigger prospective. The process itself starts with...my I build to simply it. From a land use prospective in Hawaii...the first question and this is why the applications go to the planning department. Do you have the right approvals or are there special requirements for the land you're gonna build on before you even sink money into designing what you want to build. The first question the threshold question is may I build...am I in a special management area...am I in a coastal area...am I in a flood plain...right. Are there special considerations tied to the land that meet design...that restrict my design dreams. Okay. So when I look at the comment letters and ideally there would be one comment letter listing all the corrections necessary for an application...but we have to remember that the application for the building permit process is not just an approval from the building department. It is a multi-agency review that involves not only the County...but also the State of Hawaii. Okay...and that multi- agency review starts with the land use...May I build. After you get that cleared...then we get into this phase that I like to call...How may I build. It's not the County telling you how you have to build it. The applicant chooses the materials and the methods and what they want to build with. If it is an established method of construction...in our various building codes there are tables and charts that can be referred to with calculations and proof that a building will be safe. If an applicant chooses to use alternative materials and new method of construction and those accepted tables or calculations do not exist in our County...then we ask them to supply the calculations with their application. From our prospective...as our data base of tables and calculations that are acceptable to us grows...that's a benefit not only to the County...but to future applicants if the design professionals wish to share their calculations with other design professionals. It's like the library gets bigger if more approvals come through. So it's a 29